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The U.S. is creating a digital divide by excluding certain health care providers from incentives for the adoption of EHRs and the reforms that go along with the process of demonstrating meaningful use, according to a report in Health Affairs. EHR adoption rates are "dismally low" for ineligible inpatient providers, such as rehabilitation, psychiatric and long-term acute care hospitals, according to the report.

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A report recently released by the HHS Office of Inspector General found that eligible providers in Massachusetts were overpaid by over $2.1 million in Medicaid EHR incentives in 2011 and 2012. The OIG found incorrect figures in hospitals' cost reports and worksheets, as some of them included nursery, rehabilitation, psychiatric and skilled nursing facility services in their EHR incentive payment calculations. In addition, the OIG found that the Office of Medicaid in Massachusetts failed to report two hospital payments exceeding $2.4 million during that time period.

The FDA has issued a notice urging medtech firms and hospitals to adopt additional measures to protect medical devices from cybersecurity threats. AdvaMed's Janet Trunzo said in a statement that "the risk of a malicious cyber-attack is low" when compared to the benefits of digital health technologies, but added that the industry acknowledges the need for greater security with these systems.

Families placed in a peer-led parenting intervention program showed more improvements in positive parenting practices as well as child behavioral problems compared with the wait-list control group, a study in BMJ found. Researchers reported no difference in parental stress between the groups.

More than half of 99 children's and adult jewelry pieces tested had high levels of toxic chemicals, researchers from the nonprofit Ecology Center found. More than 90% of the products contained chromium and nickel, while 10% had cadmium.